The Ward Acting Studio

A Premier Acting School in Durham, North Carolina

The Ward Acting Studio was founded in 1996 in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City. Almost immediately it became known as one of the City's top private studios for training in the Meisner Approach. The Studio graduated over 3,000 actors and produced over 60 productions.

Between 2010 and 2014, Ms. Ward moved her training program to Philadelphia and then to Melbourne, Australia where the Ward Theatre Company continued to receive accolades for the authenticity of its work and extraordinary esprit de corps.

Ms. Ward opened the Durham studio in November of 2014 to bring a New York-level of professional actor training to the Triangle. Since that time actors from as far away as Melbourne, Australia have been traveling to Durham to study with Wendy and take advantage of the high quality of training she provides. As students meet the higher standards of professional behavior the studio requires, they discover how much more they're capable of and how much better their acting can be. And that is just the beginning.

In addition to part-time training and six-week intensives, our students have the option of auditioning for the Ward Theatre Company, which is also bringing a new standard of excellence to the region. The Company provides a robust laboratory environment where actors refine the skills they have learned in the classroom by using them under the pressures inherent in auditions, rehearsals and long performance runs.

Durham, New York, Philadelphia, and Melbourne Studios

New studio in Durham, North Carolina. Nov 2014

New York Studio, 1996-2016

Philadelphia studio, 2009-2010

Melbourne studio, 2011-2013

The most exciting acting training of your life awaits you. Take the plunge!